After probe, Williston ALF ordered to halt admissions

Thursday

Dec 7, 2017 at 2:03 PMDec 7, 2017 at 5:34 PM

State investigated Good Samaritan Retirement Home after a patient fell and later died and another was severely beaten.

Cindy Swirko @CindySwirko

A Williston assisted living facility that came under investigation last month after a resident fell, hit her head and died has been ordered to stop new admissions by the state, which found evidence of poor supervision and other issues including a severe beating of one resident by another.

The Good Samaritan Retirement Home failed to take necessary emergency action when the women fell, does not meet minimum staffing standards, does not provide adequate training and demonstrated an inability or failure to provide appropriate care and services to meet residents needs, according to the order by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

A closed-circuit recording at Good Samaritan showed that while no staff members were in the secure unit, a 52-year-old resident whose health issues include a traumatic brain injury assaulted an 86-year-old resident.

The younger man knocked the older man to the ground twice and over a two-minute period punched or hit him about 56 times, the order states.

“Residents ... in assisted living facilities oftentimes suffer from disease or disability. They typically consist of the frail, elderly or vulnerable,” the order states. “In this instance, (Good Samaritan) has failed to ensure that these minimum requirements are being met.”

Good Samaritan is a 45-bed facility at 507 SE First Ave. An investigation began after a Nov. 1 incident in which Betty Hurst, 72, fell in the commons area, hitting her head. She declined an offer to be taken to the emergency room.

Hurst was placed in a bed in the home’s secure unit with no indication that she was given a medical or nursing assessment. She was later found in the bed unresponsive and taken to UF Health Shands Hospital, where she died.

The state report did not use Hurst’s name, but The Sun identified her in November following a Williston Police Department report.

A person who answered the phone at Good Samaritan Wednesday afternoon said he could not talk about the situation and added no one who could talk was available.

Meanwhile, the executive director of Families for Better Care, a nonprofit watchdog organization of adult care facilities, said the state report raises serious concerns about Good Samaritan.

“What happened at the Good Samaritan Retirement Home is unconscionable,” Brian Lee said in an email to The Sun. “Also, know that this is a Moratorium on Admissions. So, the residents still living at the facility continue to be exposed to potential neglect or abuse.”

Good Samaritan has been disciplined in the past by the state, according to reports on the agency’s website.

A moratorium on admissions was ordered in 2012 after a resident who was supposed to have only a pureed diet was give a slices of beef. The resident choked and died. The investigation found that 13 residents on prescribed diets were not getting those diets.